Effect of Regional Medical Campus Education on Student Pursuit of Primary Care Specialties

• Main Authors: Casey P. Collins, John F. McCarthy
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: University of Minnesota Libraries Publishing 2018-01-01
• Series: Journal of Regional Medical Campuses
• Subjects: primary care; regional medical campuses; WWAMI; University of Washington; medical education
• Online Access: https://pubs.lib.umn.edu/index.php/jrmc/article/view/1002

Purpose To investigate whether education at a regional medical campus (RMC) affects the likelihood of University of Washington School of Medicine (UWSOM) students choosing a primary care specialty. Method Two approaches were taken to answer the study question. First, the percentage of UWSOM students who matched to a primary care residency program between 1996-2016 was compared between two groups of students: those educated at an RMC and those educated at the academic medical center (a non-RMC). Second, physician specialty data was obtained from the AMA Physician Masterfile for UWSOM graduates from 1996-2011. Physicians were again split into RMC and non-RMC groups, and the percentage of primary care physicians was compared between the two groups. This study was completed in 2016. Results Among graduates from 1996-2016, 33% (564/1707) of those educated at an RMC were matched to a primary care residency program compared to 39% (787/2003) of students educated at the non-RMC (P < 0.001). Graduates from 1996-2011 had similar likelihoods of becoming a primary care physician regardless of first year education site (37% [395/1078] versus 39% [551/1403], P = 0.18, Figure 2). Conclusions The results of this study did not support the hypothesis that the WWAMI RMCs produce more primary care physicians than the non-RMC. A greater percentage of students who attended the non-RMC matched into a primary care residency program compared to the RMC group, while the percentage of students who ultimately chose a primary care specialty was quite similar.   Financial support: Mr. Collins was supported in part for this study by the Smith Family Endowed Chair in Medicine. Ethical Approval: The University of Washington Institutional Review Board approved the acquisition and analysis of subject data. Application #52065. Approval date 5/24/2016.